MSU Preview

If you know anything about college hockey, you don't need to say much more than that it's time for UM and MSU to match up again.

Last year, Michigan won the regular-season series, 2-1-1. Add in an MSU win at the Great Lakes Invitational in December, and a UM win in the CCHA tournament, and Michigan took the series 3-2-1. MSU got the last laugh, however, when it caught fire in the NCAA tournament and pulled off a string of upsets to claim its third national title.

Kolarik Injured

The big news for Michigan was the loss of alternate captain Chad Kolarik while killing a 5-on-3 power play in the third period of Saturday's game against LSSU. Although it appeared to be a knee injury at the time, current reports indicate that it is a hamstring injury. Red Berenson said on Monday that Kolarik could be out for up to 5 weeks. If that holds true, he would miss the rest of the regular season and Michigan's first series in the CCHA tournament (Michigan has locked up one of the top 4 seeds and will get a bye week while the lower-seeded teams stage an elimination round).

Freshman Aaron Palushaj stepped up to join the top line of Kevin Porter and Max Pacioretty to finish out Saturday night's game; whether that will become permanent remains to be seen. Kolarik is both the team leader and an excellent scoring compliment to Porter, so his loss is significant. Porter could solidify his standing as the favorite for the Hobey Baker Trophy (college hockey's Heisman Trophy for the uninitiated) with a big weekend.

What to Look For

When State is on its game, it presents the kind of defensive-minded opponent that has traditionally given Berenson's Michigan teams difficulties. Spartan goalie Jeff Lerg has often shone against the Wolverines, but has also had a couple of letdowns. In last year's regular-season matchup at the Joe, Lerg stopped 54 of 57 Michigan shots, which ought to be some kind of record. On the other hand, he gave up a 3-0 lead before settling for a 3-3 tie (granted, it's hard to blame a goalie when he makes 54 saves). When the teams met in the CCHA semifinals, Michigan blew the game open with three goals in the second period. Bottom line: when Lerg is on his game, he is tough to beat, but on occasion has given up goals in bunches. Match that up against Michigan's tendency to get impatient and take ill-advised penalties, (and Billy Sauer's penchant for making things interesting in goal) and who knows what's going to happen.

The Spartans will come in desperate; they are 5 points back with 4 games remaining. Anything but a Spartan sweep leaves them virtually eliminated. Either a Michigan win or two ties will eliminate MSU from contention for the regular-season title.

As with anything else, games between these two teams are hard-fought and emotional battles. Would anyone be surprised to see some more of this?

History

All-time, Michigan leads the series with MSU, 127-117-18. This year, MSU beat Michigan 1-0 in a tight defensive contest at Yost on Jan. 25. The following day at MSU, it appeared that MSU was going to pull off a second straight upset, when Spartan defenseman Matt Schepke tried to clear the puck from in front of his own net by swatting it with his hand. In what can only be described as one of the more fortuitous bounces of the year, the puck inexplicably went straight into the MSU net, leading to a 2-2 tie. (Note: although the game was televised, no enterprising soul has posted a clip at Youtube or Myspace - if anyone has one let me know).

Starting in 1991, UM and MSU have played at least one regular-season game at Joe Louis Arena. Michigan is 7-8-5 in those games (the teams played a full series at the Joe in 1991 and 1992, and one game per season there since then). Some video from last year's game:

The most famous game between these old rivals, of course, was the "Cold War," played October 6, 2001 to kick off the season, at Spartan Stadium, before a crowd of 74,544, which remains the largest crowd ever to watch a hockey game. Rumor has it that they're talking about doing a game at Ford Field next year, perhaps as a doubleheader with a Red Wings game (Ford Field hosts the 2010 Frozen Four and wants to do a dress rehearsal next year). Michigan was 47 seconds away from a win when the Spartans tied the game 3-3. Overtime settled nothing and the teams settled for yet another tie. Some video for you:

The weekend series will have some impact on the Pairwise rankings used to seed teams in the NCAA tournament. Brian Cook has broken it down far better than I ever could, so take a look to see how things are setting up. Historical note: those of you who have read John U. Bacon's Blue Ice know that Michigan would be well-served, historically speaking, not to wind up with the no. 1 overall seed.

Ever wonder where the hockey version of the Michigan winged helmet came from? Yep, I was there the night they first wore them. The place went nuts. Note how young Red looks in the picture.

Odds and Ends

It's early yet - there's still a month of games down South to be played before they'll even play the home opener - but the ladies' softball team is off to a 7-1 start. And don't look now but the baseball team starts its season Friday in Florida with a 3-game series against Villanova, followed by an exhibition against the Mets.

That's all for now. I'll have a quick blurb Saturday morning to recap Friday night's game, and then I'm headed up to Detroit for the game Saturday.

Go Blue!